New approach to find Nonlinear Fourier transform of optical signals

Motivated by available methods in quantum mechanics, we have developed a novel method to find the nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT) of optical signals. Using this approach, we are able to analytically solve the matrix eigenfunction-eigenvalue equation that describes NFT and reduce it to an ordinary first order scalar differential equation. This simplifies the processes of finding the NFT of any optical signal and can potentially lead to more efficient and accurate numerical methods to find NFT.